Middle Ages
Nan Madol: The Basalt City of Pohnpei's Saudeleur Dynasty
Nan Madol served as the political and religious centre of a unified Pohnpei until the Saudeleur dynasty fell, traditionally around 1628; it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Era · c. 500 – 1500
Middle Ages
Kingdoms, crusades and plagues: the medieval world from the end of the Western Roman Empire to the fall of Constantinople.
Middle Ages
Angkor Thom and the Bayon: Jayavarman VII's Capital
Jayavarman VII created a new fortified capital centred on the Bayon, a Mahayana Buddhist state temple that became the last great temple-mountain of Angkor.
Middle Ages
Battle of Dan-no-ura (1185): The Fall of the Taira Clan
Decisive Minamoto victory; the Taira clan was destroyed, Emperor Antoku drowned and the Genpei War ended.
Middle Ages
Kamakura Shogunate: Minamoto no Yoritomo and Samurai Rule
Japan gained a warrior government at Kamakura that ruled alongside the imperial court until 1333, beginning nearly seven centuries of shogunal rule.
Middle Ages
Tale of Igor's Campaign: The 1185 Raid and the Epic It Inspired
Igor's force was destroyed by the Cumans and he was captured, though he later escaped; the defeat became the subject of the most famous work of early East Slavic literature.
Middle Ages
Uprising of Asen and Peter (1185): The Second Bulgarian Empire
The revolt ended Byzantine rule over northern Bulgaria and founded the Second Bulgarian Empire, which lasted until the Ottoman conquest of 1393-1396.
Middle Ages
Ta Prohm: Angkor's Jungle Temple and Its History
Ta Prohm became one of the largest temple-monasteries of Angkor and, left largely to the forest, its most famous romantic ruin.
Middle Ages
Saladin's Capture of Jerusalem (1187): The City Surrenders
Jerusalem surrendered to Saladin on 2 October 1187 on ransom terms, ending 88 years of crusader rule over the city.
Middle Ages
Battle of Hattin (1187): Saladin Destroys the Crusader Army
Decisive Ayyubid victory; the Frankish field army was destroyed, King Guy was captured and most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem fell within months.
Middle Ages
Siege of Acre (1189-1191): The Third Crusade's Long Siege
The Muslim garrison surrendered on 12 July 1191; Acre became the capital of the restored crusader kingdom.
Middle Ages
Third Crusade (1189-1192): Richard the Lionheart and Saladin
The crusaders recovered Acre and the coast from Tyre to Jaffa but not Jerusalem; the Treaty of Jaffa (1192) allowed Christian pilgrims to visit the city.
Middle Ages
Minaret of Jam: The Ghurid Tower in Afghanistan's Mountains
The minaret survives as one of the finest monuments of Ghurid architecture and became Afghanistan's first UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002.